‘Twelve Tins’ author Donna Mae DePola

From the age of five to 17, Donna Mae DePola was raped and molested on a daily basis by her father. She turned to drugs and alcohol at an early age to cope with her feelings and numb out.

“As a kid, I thought the incest was normal,” she said in an interview. “I remember telling a girl at PS 94 about what my dad did to me the night before and she was horrified. I asked, ‘Why? Don’t you have sex with your father too?'”